SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea should follow in the footsteps of Russia and China and open up its economic and political systems to improve conditions for its people, President Barack Obama’s point man for human rights in the country said Thursday.

Robert King, in a live conversation with South Korean Internet users held on a U.S. Embassy-run Web site, said he wants North Korea to achieve significant political and economic changes like Russia and China have gone through over the past 20 years.

Pyongyang has long been regarded as having one of the world’s worst human rights records, with more than 150,000 political prisoner believed detained in large prison camps. The North has bristled at outside criticism of its rights situation, calling it part of a U.S.-led plot to topple its regime.

South Koreans submitted questions to King in Korean and his answers were translated back into that language. The embassy did not immediately release a transcript of his original English-language comments.

King reiterated his view that the North should improve human rights conditions if it wants to forge normalized, productive ties with the United States.